I have seen two cases of severe blood poisoning from gutting bears without using gloves and nicking themselves in the process! If you don't wear gloves when gutting an animal, you are risking a serious infection. The cost of gloves is cheap in comparison to medical expenses!

I also have a family friend that they believe got something from a deer he dressed out. They never knew exactly what it was, but his liver and kidneys were shutting down, and he was very, very close to not making it.

I've been using gloves for about 10 years now even when out fishing, I've been called every wussy name in the book because of it but I really dont care. I'd rather know I'm safe than risking an infection. you'd be amazed at the crap you can get from animals, Has anyone seen the show Monsters inside me? I recommend it to anyone who thinks they wont catch anything, you'd be amazed

worn gloves. I doubt that gloves that will allow you to feel what your cutting will help you much if you nic yourself with the knife. I don't boil water out of the creek either, never bothered me. My sister tells me that I eat such garbage that there's probably not much that will bother me.

I use the blue nitrile gloves. They are latex and powder free so you will not leave any "glove taste" behind on your meat... at least I have never had that problem. I also never have a problem "feeling" my way through field dressing an animal. You can find them in boxes of 100 at your local drug store. Use them!

I too have taken to using gloves. I use the cheapest latex gloves I can find (I don’t like the plastic gloves – I find them too slippery for good knife control). I started doing this in case I start with cuts on my hands or fingers, or more likely end up with a cut before a large butchering job is over. Although thank God that seems to happen less and less often in the last few years. I don’t bother with the long gloves just cheap medical gloves that go to the wrist. I get them at the dollar store. I am not squeamish about gutting and butchering. I found that putting hand lotion on just before butchering makes washing up afterwards a lot easier and also keeps blood from soaking into dry skin and smelling for days, but as Western Hunter said sometimes it is just smart from a disease avoidance stance to use a barrier when handling blood and bodily fluids. You don’t need bacteria or viruses that you can get from being exposed to raw meat and the blood. It could be anything from rabies to Chronic Wasting disease so I'm much more comfortable doing what I can to stay protected. Like Goosehunter junior said ...in my humble opinion you are far better off to be safe than to be sorry!

Started using gloves a few years ago mainly due to the mess. I use the medical type that you can get at Wally World or any other drug store. They are cheap and cleaning your hands only takes a few minutes. After gutting and quartering and elk it is nice not to have to wash/scrub dried blood off your hands. Never really thought about blood transfer from a critter to myself thru a cut but it is a solid point and sure does not hurt to protect yourself as much as possible. I agree with "Groovy Mike" that latex is better than plastic for knife control as god knows I have cut myself more times than I care to admit.

Out here in Colorado, and in the units that I haunt, it is a tricky game to figure out how far to pack in on a rifle hunt. You want to get away from the masses that have moved game away from the roads but might want to stay close enough that you are taking advantage of the animals forced movements. There is no universal distance but I like the 1.5 to 4 mile range for day hunts where I am not planning on bivying out. This keeps you in that productive buffer zone where the animals are really...